1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosed subject matter relates generally to mobile computing systems and, more particularly, to suppressing alert messages based on microphone states of connected devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various alert techniques are used in mobile devices to inform users of incoming activity, including text messages, email messages, voice calls, video conference calls, etc. Alert tones, vibrations, or voice alerts may be used to indicate incoming events.
One type of alert mechanism is commonly referred to as voice assist. To facilitate safer user interactions during activities, such as driving, a voice assist service typically announces an incoming activity and queries the user for a response. For example, the voice assist service may announce, “You have an incoming text message from John Doe. Would you like me to read it?” or “You have an incoming call from Jane Doe. Would you like me to answer it?”
In some instances, a user may be engaged in activity where such incoming alert tones or messages may be disruptive or may reduce privacy. For example, the user may be engaged in a voice call or video conference, and an incoming voice assist message may be heard by other parties participating in the communication. The user may not want the information in the text message or the party associated with the incoming alert to be made known. In other cases, the user may be recording video, and the incoming alert message may be recorded along with the video, thereby causing unwanted content being permanently present in the video.
The present disclosure is directed to various methods and devices that may solve or at least reduce some of the problems identified above.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.